World War I Today

War Underground by Alexander Barrie

by Alexander Barrie

Austrian postcard of the inundations at Nieuport, Belgium, with soldiers at the flood barrier. Driven to a corner of Belgium by Germany's advance, the Belgians tried to make a stand on the Yser Canal in the flat terrain of Flanders. Driven back, they retreated behind the railway embankment that ran from Nieuport on the coast to Dixmude 20 miles inland. On October 27, 1914 they opened the locks to flood the plain before them, a process that took several days. Unable to break through, the Germans abandoned the Battle of the Yser on October 31.